(What's the Story) Morning Glory?

the other day at Kumon, one of the older kids who i sort of know, came to me to say hey. he shook my hand, and i apologized because my hand was sweaty (ew, but it was definitely a hot day). he pointed to my cold, “perspiring” water bottle and asked, “it`s not water?” when i told him no, he ran across the classroom to go and wash his hands. i guess my top requirement for a husband, above and beyond anything else, is going to have to be extreme toleration for sweaty hands. 

i honestly thought i could live through the summer with a minimal number of AMODs, but it looks like i just can`t escape the higher powers of awkwardom.

our neighbors hosted a “block party” today, so i had my share of festivities this Fourth of July weekend. everyone brought food, and my mother made ぎょうざ/ dumplings/ potstickers as our family contribution. we`re pretty much the only Asian family on the block (we live in between two streets, so maybe i should say blocks?), so everyone easily identified the dumplings as ours. 

most of our neighbors are really nice old people, so sitting outside with them for five hours to eat + talk was interesting (i can`t think of a better adjective) to say the least. i believe all of the men are named either Jim or John. anyhow, one of the Jims was telling this story about my three year old self. he said that i was stuck on top of a fence and screaming my lungs out, and he rushed over to help me off. he was worried that somebody might accuse him of molesting me. he then asked me if i had any recollection of this fence incident. i wasn`t sure if i was supposed to thank him for helping me off. gratitude sixteen years late?

i think summer vacation is making my brain sort of slow, even though i`m working at Kumon. another Jim was talking about his grandchildren, and he said he had fourteen of them. right after, he said he had ten great-grandchildren. i got really freaked out, and i sat there trying to think of a good reason why four of his grandchildren didn`t merit the description of greatness. i realized like five minutes later that i had misinterpreted what he said. nice one, Julia.

it`s strange meeting neighbors for the first time when you`ve already lived with them for years. it has to happen sometime though, right?